The Strange Way Rogue One Planet Scarif Got Its Name

Love or hate Rogue One as an extension of the grand Star Wars cinematic canon, there is no doubt that its rousing climax is one of the best seen in any of the existing movies. And the planet upon which these events happen has an instantly recognizable and memorable name. Scarif. What does it mean? Where does it come from? Well, Gareth Edwards has finally revealed the secret origin of the planet's name. And it's pretty funny.

Scarif is home to an Imperial facility where the plans to the dreaded Death Star are kept. And it's up to a group of Rogue Rebel soldiers to lead the rest of their fleet in an attack on this compound. Looking at the planet's lush tropical beaches, you'd never guess that its origins are actually tied to coffee. Not of the interplanetary kind. But the kind you'd find at Starbucks.

Over the weekend, Gareth Edwards finally admitted that the name Scarif has very terrestrial origins. The planet found it's title due to a mix-up by one unassuming barista in a coffee shop who has no idea she contributed to Star Wars lore. She simple misunderstood Gareth's name while he was getting his morning caffeine fix.

Delivering a keynote speech at SXSW, Edwards confirmed that a coffee shop barista spelled his name wrong on his coffee cup, trading Scarif for Gareth. She simply misunderstood his name, and the director ran with it. It all happened purely by accident.

This mispronunciation served as direct inspiration for the Imperial planet, where most of the major action in Rogue One takes place. And it is considered a 'happy accident'. Gareth says that when it came time to name the planet, he simply showed the coffee cup to his team.

"I just slid the coffee cup ... it's called Scarif."

That is quite a unique and interesting way to happen upon a name for something that will be used throughout the existence of Star Wars lore. But it sounds like this sort of thing happens a lot when trying to come up with names for ships, planets and characters in this ever-expanding universe. The Millennium Falcon also had an auspicious start.

As legend has it, Han Solo's iconic ship was based on a design that George Lucas had after he saw a cheeseburger with a bit taken out of it, which was sitting next to an oliver. While visiting SXSW, partially to promote the upcoming VOD and Blu-ray release of Rogue One, Edwards also dropped some insight into his creative process on the movie. He says this about the movie as a whole and its creation.

"The human body is the hardware, stories are the software you download into them."

Gareth Edwards is providing a full director's commentary for the home video release of Rogue One, where he's sure to drop even more insightful trivia such as this. We don't have to wait long to hear this anticipated track. While Rogue One is coming to VOD later this month, it will be available in stores on DVD and Blu-ray starting April 4. Here is the video where Edwards tells his Scarif story courtesy of Digital LA.